Culture Book 2017
Our Story
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Welcome to our global movement for good. DoSomething.org is the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change. We’re activating 5.5 million young people (and counting!) to make positive change, online and off, in every US area code and in over 131 countries. Our members have clothed half of America’s youth in homeless shelters. And cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts from the streets. And run the largest youth-led sports equipment drive in the world. And more! Welcome to DoSomething. Let’s Do This!
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REASONS TO WORK AT DO SOMETHING .ORG
1. We Were Born to Make History 2. Our Staff Is 3. Our Interns Are Committed...and Compensated! 4. We Eat, Sleep, Change the World, Repeat 5. Our Office is Next Level 6. Sabbatical Makes Dreams Come True 7. We Work Hard AND Play Hard 8. We’ve Got the Inside Scoop 9. We Know People 10. We’re Social Butterflies 11. We’ve Got Values
1 We Were Born to Make History
Big Stuff 1993
DoSomething founded by actor and all around good guy, Andrew Shue.
S o dream
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2007 Teens for Jeans, the largest denim drive for homeless teenagers, launches for the first time.
2003 CEO and Chief Old Person Nancy Lublin takes the reigns to drive the org into the future.
#Flawless
2010
The first-ever Do Something Awards air on VH1.
2014 Site relaunches. (This is how it looks!)
2015
Aria Finger named CEO and Chief Old Person!
2013
DoSomething launches TMI, our strategic consultancy that helps brands and orgs drive social change.
2017
Sincerely, Us, the first nationwide youth-led Muslim outreach campaign, launches.
2 OUR STAFF IS
Our staff is diverse, passionate, talented, and weird. Like, super weird. (That’s a compliment!) Working here requires innovation, collaboration, and believing that young people can (and will!) create positive change every single day. These amazing folks are really happy to meet you.
2017 Staff
AARON SCHACHTER
ADAM GARNER
AKI ZAPATA
Senior Software Engineer
Campaigns Manager
Campaigns Associate
ARIA FINGER
ASHLEY BALDWIN
BEN KASSOY
CEO, Chief Old Person
Product Manager
Editor-in-chief
BONNIE HUMPHERYS
CALVIN STOWELL
CAROLINE LEWIS
Finance and Operations Manager
Chief Growth Officer
Senior Strategist, TMI
CHLOE LEE
CHRIS ALFONSO
CHRIS HARBUR
Software Engineer
Photo/Video Production Associate
Impact Manager
DAVE FURNES
DEZMON GILMORE
DIANE ZMIRICH
Staff Engineer
PR & Talent Relations Manager
Digital Marketing Associate
DIEGO LORENZO
FREDDIE BOLOGNO
GLEB BOUNDIN
Senior Software Engineer
Director of Mobile Products & Messaging
IT Manager
2017 Staff
GREG PERLSTEIN
HANNAH GHIDEY
HILLARY ROBBINS
Senior Director, Growth & Marketing, TMI
User Insights Manager
Impact and Community Engagement Specialist
IRENE PEDRUELO
JAMES JENSEN
JEN NG
Director of Research & Insights, TMI
Product Analyst
Product Manager
JESS LI
JOE KENT
Survey Research Analyst
Software Engineer
KALIA ARAGON Strategist, TMI
KARY PEREZ
KATIE CRANE
KAYLA MONTEIRO
Senior Strategist, TMI
Software Engineer
Special Projects Associate
KAREN GOLDFEDER
KERI GOFF
KIKA GILBERT
VP of Business Development
Creative Director
Product Manager: Messaging
LIZZY DIVINE
LUKE PATTON
MAI IRIE
Director of Campaign Strategy
Product Designer
Director of Engineering
2017 Staff
MARIE PEDERSON
MARISSA RANALLI
MARLY LEIGHTON
Strategist, TMI
Marketing Manager
Biz Dev Manager & Events Specialist
MATT HOLFORD
MEREDITH FERGUSON
MICHAELA BETHUNE
Chief Tech Officer
Director, TMI
Head of Campaigns
MICHELE FINO
MIKE FANTINI
MORGAN RICH
Chief Marketing Officer
Chief Product Officer
Senior Software Engineer
PIERCE STREIFF
PILAR BARREYRO
RACHEL MOTZ
Visual Designer
Campaigns Associate
Lead Strategist, TMI
RITIKA KAUSHAL
RAFA PACAS
REGAN HALES
Finance/HR Manager
Software Engineer: Messaging
Director of Finance & HR
SAM ARPINO
SAMRA BROUK
SENA HEYDARI
Talent & Culture Manager, Head of Fun
Business Development Director
Data Engineer
2017 Staff
SERGII TKACHENKO
SHAE SMITH
SOHAIB HASAN
Senior Software Engineer
Senior Software Engineer
Director of Analytics
We asked the staff... WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CAUSE THAT DOSOMETHING ADDRESSES?
CHRIS HARBUR
Clothing homeless youth.
MICHELE FINO
DO YOU HAVE ANY COOL TATTOOS? OF WHAT?
MARLY LEIGHTON
A few! I love my spaceship tattoo -- a matching tat with my oldest friend.
ELIZABETH DIVINE
Getting young people to register to vote and then actually VOTE!
A tree – that I actually got in a conference room at the DoSomething office!
SAM ARPINO
KERI GOFF
Sex & relationships. So many young people have a skewed idea of what a healthy relationship should be like, and I’m proud that we’re tackling this.
I have the apple logo tattooed on my body. 18-year-old me thought it was a GREAT idea.
GREG PERLSTEIN
MARIE PEDERSON
All of them. That’s the beauty of it. We help young people take action in any way that feels meaningful to them.
Nope! Just millions of freckles.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SPOT IN THE DOSOMETHING OFFICE?
HILLARY ROBBINS Anywhere there’s snacks. This is usually my desk.
GLEB BOUNDIN
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FORM OF POTATO?
DEZMON GILMORE Any way they can be fried!
SAMRA BROUK
Server room, great for hiding!
Is this a real question? Duh, french fries. Beer-battered with aioli.
HANNAH GHIDEY
KATI CRANE
Themyscira. I can’t get enough of that mood lighting.
Waffle House hashbrowns.
ARIA FINGER
KAYLA MONTEIRO
The command center desk. I need to win it back in the next reaping!
A classic mash.
We asked the staff... WHAT MAKES DOSOMETHING SPECIAL TO YOU?
REGAN HALES
We care about creating a compassionate world that is inclusive and caring.
ADAM GARNER
IF DOSOMETHING.ORG WAS A TV SHOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED?
MARISSA RANALLI
DoSomething: Where Things Happen
BEN KASSOY
The collective commitment we all make to making the world better.
“The Cause Is Right.” Get it, like “The Price Is Right”??? Guh, that’s so bad....if only someone knew how to do words around here!!
KAREN GOLDFEDER
BONNIE HUMPHREYS
IRENE PEDRUELO
KIKA GILBERT
That we can be a gateway for any young person looking to take social good actions in their community.
Intentionality.
The Sims
Straight from the Pit
WHAT CAMPAIGN WERE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT WORKING ON?
WHICH MOVIE VILLAIN WOULD YOU BE?
PIERCE STREIFF
JOE KENT
MATT HOLFORD
CAROLINE LEWIS
KALIA ARAGON
PILAR BARREYRO
KERI GOFF
CALVIN STOWELL
Give a Spit About Cancer because the issue is so important and easy to take action on!
Sincerely, US—the thousands of handmade cards and the reactions from recipients made for an amazing campaign.
Suspended for What: Advocate. We did such smart work, and Pilar is just a boss.
Our spotlight campaigns allow us the freedom to address new cause spaces that we are all so passionate about.
Ultron
Clu from Tron.
Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove.
Baron Zemo from Captain America: Civil War, his only power was instigating drama by gossiping. I loved it.
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Our Interns Are Committed... and Compensated!
We LOVE our interns. (And we compensate them too!) They represent so many different experiences, identities, and strengths, and they add unique skills and perspectives to the team. Our interns aren’t here to file papers and go on coffee runs. They’re here to tackle organizational priorities, learn a ton, become best friends, and dominate other orgs in kickball. Meet our summer class: great interns, amazing kickball players.
2017 Summer Interns
ALEXANDRA RIVERA
ANTHONY GARAY
ARIANNA NEAL
Member Experience
TMI
TMI
ARIEL MUNCZEK EDELMAN
BRISA GOMEZ
GRACEE WALLACH
Campaigns
Public Relations
Special Projects
ILEENA IRVING
KATIE LAU
KAYLIE GAZURA
Digital Marketing
Product
Biz Dev
LIHUI GUO
NATALIE KANTER
SARAH HEBERLIG
Scholarships
Biz Dev
Impact
SIBU DLANGALALA
TRACY WOLFBISS
WILLIAM-DOUGLAS REYES
Campaigns
TMI
Creative
YASH SHANKAR
ZACH KOBAYASHI
Campaigns
Marketing & Tumblr
2017 High School Interns
BLAKE FAUCHER
HUNTER TAYLOR-BLACK
JASON TIFFORD
Special Projects
Biz Dev
Campaigns
MAX SURPRENANT Biz Dev
We asked the interns... WHAT WAS YOUR MOST BALLER MOMENT AT DOSOMETHING?
WHAT IS ONE FOOD YOU CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF?
SARAH HEBERLIG
ILEENA IRVING
KAYLIE GAZURA
NATALIE KANTER
Getting an assignment straight from our awesome CEO, Aria!
TAKIS. I even created a special intern event every Friday where we bring Takis and sit in a nearby park to hang out and snack!
ARIEL MUNCZEK EDELMAN
YASH SHANKAR
Devising strategies for the community outreach component of the Suspended for WHAT?: Advocate campaign.
When I got to use data analysis skills from school to analyze member surveys.
All the breads. Every one of them.
Flaming Hot Cheetos
WHAT MAKES DOSOMETHING EXTRA SPECIAL?
WHICH MOVIE SUPERHERO WOULD YOU BE?
ZACH KOBAYASHI
SIBU DLANGALALA
LIHUI GUO
GRACEE WALLACH
Every single campaign we run is all-inclusive, fully accessible, and genuinely impactful!
Wonder Woman -- Duhh!
All the props scattered around the office! They keep things fun, and I don’t know what life would be like without seeing Bobo (the giant stuffed bear) everyday.
Jessica Jones
BRISA GOMEZ
KATIE LAU
It’s definitely the team! Everyone is so genuine, inspiring, nerdy, and unapologetically themselves. They make each other feel welcomed and loved.
Baby Groot for SURE.
4 We Eat, Sleep, Change the World, Repeat
A campaign is a movement young people join to impact a specific cause space. Each campaign starts with a problem, a solution, and a call to action, and each one gives our members the tools, resources, and guidance they need to be agents of change in their own communities. Here are some of our favorites!
Some Recent Campaigns That Crushed It NEW YEAR, NEW US With 77% of our country feeling divided after the inauguration, 85,360 members participated in week of action, where they completed a series of challenges to build strength and unity at the local level.
SUSPENDED FOR WHAT? In a national effort to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, 44,736 members signed up to educate their friends about discriminatory discipline, and convinced 26 principals to sign a pledge to uphold fair discipline policies.
RINSE, RECYCLE, REPEAT Nearly half of Americans don’t regularly recycle their empty beauty and personal care products. That’s why DoSomething members created 15,139 bathroom recycling bins!
SINCERELY, US DoSomething members created 41,287 Happy Ramadan cards, which we distributed to every single mosque in the country.
GIVE A SPIT ABOUT CANCER This campaign will LITERALLY save lives: 24,752 DoSomething members joined the campaign to swab their cheeks and sign up for the national bone marrow registry.
LOSE YOUR V-CARD & FIND YOUR V-SPOT Don’t boo, vote! Over 27,436 times, DoSomething members encouraged their friends to “lose their V-Card” ﹘as in, vote for the first time! And 72,487 members helped friends find their V-Spot (aka their voting location)!
WHO HAS THEIR EYE ON YOU? The answer: Big Tobacco! Over 15,000 members played and shared a quiz to help their friends spot Big Tobacco’s discriminatory and predatory marketing tactics.
A Few of Our Greatest Hits TEENS FOR JEANS Over a million young people experience homelessness in the US every year. One item they often request? A pair of jeans. DoSomething members collected over 1 million pairs of jeans, enough to clothe half of all homeless youth in the US.
THUMB WARS We all know texting and driving is dangerous and dumb. Yet, everyone has a friend or family member who does it anyway. In fact, 2 in 5 high school students text behind the wheel. Since 2010, over 1 million members have signed up to remind their friends not to text and drive.
GRANDPARENTS GONE WIRED Loneliness can increase stress levels and, therefore, chances of disease in older adults. But smartphones can help! They can help improve the health of older adults but 77% of seniors need help getting started using them. Members helped 11,753 older adults learn to text, email, video chat, and use social media.
LOVE LETTERS Over 15.5 million seniors live alone and face isolation due to location, disability, or language barriers, which can lower self-esteem and increase chances of depression, anxiety, and alcohol/drug use. Members have sent 599,510 Valentine’s Day cards for seniors living in isolation to help them feel connected and loved.
ELEPHANT TUSK FORCE Every day, 96 African elephants are killed by ivory poachers. If this continues, they could be extinct by 2025. Members have flagged 100,134 ivory items online in order to slow the ivory trade and protect elephants.
POWER TO THE PERIOD Many of the 3.5 million Americans who experience homelessness each year have extremely limited access to period products (pads, tampons, etc.). In fact, period products are some of the most needed items in homeless shelters across the country. In the first-ever national period product drive, members donated 592,005 period products.
GAME-WINNING DRIVE Kids from underserved communities are 50% less likely to play sports. One reason is that equipment is too expensive to afford. Members have donated 46,207 pieces of sports equipment, making Game-Winning Drive the largest sports gear campaign in the world. Score!
Our Office is Next Level
No cubicles, all collaboration: Our open office plan fosters communication and creativity as we fight for our users every day. Join us for a little digital tour or, better yet, visit us IRL!
The Gong When the gong’s a-ringing, the staff comes a-running! We bang the gong to gather everyone for big announcements like new hires, campaign launches, and locked partnerships.
The Hacienda
Tired of your desk? Chill on the couches in The Hacienda, where you’ll find staffers from all teams...and species. (Hey, Bobo!) We’ve even stocked a few board games and musical instruments so we can take a quick brain break before heading back to work!
The Pit
Join us in The Pit, the office’s central hub! Every Wednesday, we host Staff Meeting, where every team member shares an accomplishment, a goal, and a request for the week.
Let’s Do This Wall
Need a little motivation? Or creative inspiration? Or just a reminder of our tagline? The writing’s on the wall!
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Sabbatical Makes Dreams Come True
After working at DoSomething.org for two years, staff members are granted a four-week (paid!) sabbatical to volunteer anywhere in the world. Staffers give to communities in need, enjoy life-changing experiences, and return with inspiration and knowledge to improve the org.
SABBATICAL
MARISSA RANALLI MUMBAI, INDIA
WHERE DID YOU GO?
MICHAELA BETHUNE RITSร NA, GREECE During my sabbatical, I volunteered with Lighthouse Relief at a refugee camp in Ritsรณna, Greece, working with vulnerable populations impacted by the refugee crisis. I primarily worked on the Gender Based Violence Protection Unit, developing the Youth Engagement Program, and consulting on sustainable strategies and operations.
MARISSA RANALLI MUMBAI, INDIA
I volunteered with Lok Seva Sangam, a Mumbai-based NGO. I taught English and yoga (much to my surprise) to the children of the Dharavi community.
SAMRA BROUK NEW YORK, NY
I worked on the Manhattan District Attorney’s re-election campaign.
CHRIS HARBUR NASSAU, BAHAMAS
I taught acting, improv and playwriting at the Ranfurly Home for Foster Kids. Then I worked at the Bahamas Humane Society.
7 We Work Hard AND Play Hard
We tackle serious issues, but we don’t always have to be serious while doing it. With parties, bake-offs, and spirit days, we’re always looking for a reason to celebrate.
Kickball
One of our favorite summer events is our weekly kickball games against other NYC orgs we love. Win or lose, it’s always a good time‌but especially when we win!
BAKE-OFFS If you like cooking shows like Chopped and Cupcake Wars, you’ll love our summer bake-offs! Our staff shows off their best culinary skills in themed challenges that range from Pride to penguins!
PARTY VIBES Whether it’s our Pride party, holiday party, or birthday celebrations, it’s going down. And yes, there will (obviously) be food.
SPIRIT DAYS Every summer Friday, the interns designate a new Spirit Day theme. Whether it’s twinning, 80s, school pride, or ##PlaidIsRad, we’re showing up and showing out.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Every month, we celebrate staffers’ birthdays with singing, inside-joke-filled cards, and... you guessed it... FOOOOD.
8 We’ve Got the Inside Scoop
TMI STRATEGY
TMI is DoSomething’s strategy consultancy and helps clients drive social change through insights backed by data from millions of young people. In a world of Too Much Information, we say bring it on. Because in that pile of GIFs, memes, and tweets, there are brilliant insights waiting to be put into action. Fueled by DoSomething’s proprietary data from millions of young people involved in hundreds of cause initiatives, we uncover what motivates young people to connect with companies and causes they care about. Since 2013, TMI has earned profits of more than $2.5 million – and 100% of them support DoSomething.org’s bottom line.
OUR CODE GIVE A SHIT.
About our clients. About the work. About driving true impact. About each other.
BRING IT.
Be smart. Be confident. Be humble. Be forgiving. Be always learning. Be honest. Be quirky. Be fun. #YouBeYou
BACK IT UP.
News junkie. Data head. Pop culture aficionado. Doesn’t matter what you are, just back it up with facts and truth.
HAVE FUN!
Celebrate big and small wins equally. Be the best part of our clients’ weeks and each other’s week.
TMI STRATEGY CLIENTS
9 We Know People
You know what they say: teamwork makes the dream work. That’s why DoSomething is suuuper thankful for our corporate partners, marketing partners, press partners, scholarship partners, and talent! Say hello to the incredible folks who power the org that powers the movement.
(Recent) Celebs who’ve supported DoSomething Meme Queen!
COCO JONES
SKAI JACKSON
SABRINA CARPENTER
Who Has Their Eye On You
Treat Yo Friends
Love Letters Challenge
HANNIBAL BURESS
REMI CRUZ
LAUREN JAUREGUI
Give a Spit About Cancer
Rinse, Recycle, Repeat
Lose Your V-Card, Sincerely, US
er!
D.I.Y. Mast
A Sample of Our Corporate Partners 3M powered DoSomething’s Science Sleuth campaign, a game where members used science skills to solve a mystery and unlock (real!) donations to science classrooms in need.
Give a Spit About Cancer, powered by Johnson & Johnson, activated DoSomething members to swab their cheeks and join the national bone marrow registry.
Explain the Pain Text, powered by CVS, helped DoSomething members keep their friends safe from prescription pain medication misuse and abuse.
ESPN’s Shred Hate campaign activated members to write down insults they’d heard and rip through the paper as a way of saying, “Bullying doesn’t have the power. I do.”
JetBlue powered the Inspiration Innovation campaign, where DoSomething members made inclusive vision boards to inspire the next generation of great scientists and innovators.
Truth powered Who Has Their Eye On You, a quiz that blows the lid off Big Tobacco’s predatory marketing tactics.
DoSomething members encouraged friends to recycle their bathroom empties by creating recycling bins through Rinse, Recycle, Repeat, powered by Garnier.
Imagine a world where people are celebrated for what makes them bold and different. Through Treat Yo Friends, powered by Takis, members made IOU books to do just that for their friends!
A Few of Our Marketing Partners
Scholarship Partners Press/PR Partners
10 We’re Social Butterflies
/dosomething 2,525,351 likes
@dosomething @dosomethingjobs 809,000 followers
@dosomething 108,000 followers
@dosomething One of the largest not-for-profits on Snapchat!
@dosomething 18,000 followers
@dosomething 129,000 followers
@dosomething 129,000 followers
@dosomething We recently joined Musical.ly!
11 We’ve Got Values!
DoSomething.org’s Core Values: 1. Passionate about changing the world. 2. Take risks & fail fast. 3. Have fun & get shit done. 4. Live our brand: “Relevant! Inspiring! Never just meh”. 5. Believe in ALL young people. 6. Fight for the user. 7. Bring your best self and assume everyone else is, too. 8. Value honest, direct feedback, and strive to improve. 9. Data-informed. 10. We’ll never have all the answers but we’re curious to get them. 11. Live and promote our culture of diversity & inclusion.
Culture Book 2017